Transistors and other switching devices are widely used in modern electronic applications. In practice, electrical parasitics within electrical circuits are unavoidable due to physical non-idealities. These electrical parasitics can have potentially damaging side effects for higher power applications or other applications at higher switching frequencies. For example, when a switching device is switched off and current is prevented from flowing through a parasitic inductance, a corresponding voltage is created within the circuit. This, in turn, may result in a voltage across the switching device that exceeds the device breakdown voltage, thereby compromising future operation of the switching device. Accordingly, it is desirable to protect switching devices from potentially damaging turn-off over-voltages. However, most prior art approaches require an undesirably high number of components, particularly in view of the other components used to provide other types of protection (e.g., desaturation protection or the like). Additionally, some prior art approaches, such as soft turn off, may compromise the overall performance.